Films rushing to meet a release date has almost become a common practice in Hollywood. “X-Men: First Class” will open next week ten months after it started shooting, while “Hunger Games” and ,Tarsem‘s recently moved Snow White film will operate under the same time constraints to meet their March release dates next year. But it’s always a risk to hurry a production, particularly when there are a lot of dollars at stake and with just over a year before “Star Trek 2” is scheduled to land next June, and with no director attached, Paramount may end up pushing back the movie rather than try and crank it out.
Deadline reports that with director J.J. Abrams still not confirmed to direct a rethink is beginning to happen on the film. Yesterday, writer Roberto Orci — who is writing the script with Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof — revealed on Trek Movie that though they already have a 70-page treatment, further work is more or less on hold while everyone waits on Abrams to hear what he wants to do.
“Just been waiting for JJ to be free to really decide if he likes the story and hear his suggestions before we finish the script. Once he says go, we’ll have it in no time. Meanwhile, our outline is detailed enough (70+ pages!) to do some prep :),” Orci posted to the site. He added in a later email, “In the meetings we’ve had with JJ, he’s already given us amazing input and ideas, and that’s been while he’s been up to his eyeballs in ‘Super 8.'”
But it’s not just Abrams’ coy attitude regarding the film that is an issue. Apparently, with all three writers busy on various projects (Kurtzman on his directorial debut “Welcome To People“; Orci on “Ender’s Game” and Lindelof on “Prometheus“) there is a worry that the script won’t live up the quality of the first film. A push in the release date would allow time to get it right.
So what will happen next? It’s anyone’s guess. Deadline suggests that a mix of good news/bad news will be along any day now with Paramount saying that nothing will be determined until Abrams gives a firm answer on if he’s directing or not. We have to wonder, if “Super 8” turns out to be a smash hit, will Abrams really want to follow it up with doing a sequel instead of using that leverage to get another original project off the ground? We wonder. And if he bails on directing, we would imagine that will definitely mean the project gets pushed as a search for a new director gets underway. Lots to consider, but for now, “Star Trek 2” is still planned to hit theaters on June 29, 2012.
I\’d bet most anything that paramount positions world war z (which seems to be progressing quickly) in the soon-to-be vacated slot. Bumping up gi joe 2 is also a possibility.
J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman need to surpass Star Trek (2009) and rectify the mistakes that they made because as much as it was a tremendous film, I was still privately disappointed because it could have easily have been so much better. The Orion Syndicate as the villains, larger all-star cast as well as many cameos including by William Shatner and Lady Gaga, more planets, larger space battles with more starships, bringing back and give more screentime to Chris Hemsworth, Jennifer Morrison, Rachel Nichols, Winona Ryder and Diora Baird, Kirk having better fighting skills and several human love interests played by Hollywood’s most beautiful young actresses, no cut scenes and the Jerry Goldsmith theme music from the Star Trek Insurrection end credits as well as the album version of ‘Where My Heart Will Take Me’ used at the end.
Where do these commenters come from? why am I commenting with them? How are they so wrong about everything?
This Star Trek sequel will slaughter Superman. Snyder should commence the flop sweating now.
JJ Abrams is a fucking hack for the following reasons:
1. Look at his pre-LOST filmography. As bad as some of the titles are (Gone Fishin\’?) Regarding Henry is really probably the worst. (I say pre-LOST because that\’s when he started to take on this \”new Spielberg\” kinda mantle that\’s entirely inaccurate. Sorry Alias fans.)
2. What is the monster in Super 8? What was the monster in Cloverfield? What was the monster on LOST? Does Fringe have a monster? I don\’t know, cause I don\’t watch.
3. Are we supposed to be in awe of the Super 8 previews for how Spielbergian they look/sound? It\’s one thing to take a page out of another director\’s book, but is aping Close Encounters/ET something to be celebrated?
4. Lenz flarezz
5. If he didn\’t really care about the Trek film franchise (Yr not Chris Nolan, JJ, tossing off equally good movies in between) why not just let Orci and Kurtzman do it as a series, which is really the way Trek should be.
6. http://www.daemonstv.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/J-J-Abrams.jpg
Really mean, but after reading your site, I feel like I should just read deadline cause that\’s where all of your stories come anyway.
\”there is a worry that the script won’t live up to the quality of the first film.\”
Huh? The visuals were cool but the script was an abomination…